Towards a politically efficacious community-based theatre

Young people make up the most susceptible groups in the AIDS epidemic in Tanzania. Their most practised form of HIV prevention is community-based theatre (CBT). However, no official assessment has been done to advance the use of theatre in aid programmes. After a long-term research project, the conclusions indicate that gender predicaments exposed in performances cut so close to the epidemic determinants that a redress of such issues would threaten the jobs of politicians and aid workers. In anticipation of a 'performative democracy', the efficacy of CBT may be what hinders its legitimacy as a social and political force against AIDS.